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The Brits will soon get a taste of Indonesian traditional dishes at Indonesian Weekend in London from July 22 – 23. This diplomatic event is helmed by former Masterchef Indonesia judge Degan Septoadji.

This is one of the best ways for Indonesia to promote its tourism to the United Kingdom since Indonesian food is quite popular overseas especially rendang (beef simmered in coconut milk and spices) that earned the 11th spot in World’s 50 Best Foods list by CNN Travel in 2011.

“Other than cooking demo by Chef Degan Septoadji, there will be gasing (spinning top) performance by gasing ‘maestro’ Endi Aras, pencaksilat performance and mural art,” said the ministry's deputy assistant for Europe, the United States, Middle East and Africa tourism promotion, Nia Niscaya.

“The staying period of the British tourists are longer than other European countries, in the eye of the British people, Indonesia is seen as a warm tourist destination,” Niscaya added.

It is also worth noting that England once occupied Indonesia for five years in the past.

Apart from rendang, other dishes that will be presented there are soto Betawi (Betawi beef soup) and gado-gado (mixed vegetable salad with rice and peanut sauce).

“Soto was presented at World Halal Tourism Award 2016 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emriates. This proves that soto can compete with other dishes from countries like Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Palestine and Turkey that were nominated alongside Indonesia for the award,” Niscaya added. Moreover, soto is also included in the 30 Traditional Culinary Icons of Indonesia (IKTI).

This year, the ministry is targeting to have 380,000 tourists from the United Kingdom. (asw)